


Of Panic Attacks and Flour Wars

by The_things_we_do_today



Series: Larkin Family Fluff - Of Panic Attacks and Flour Wars universe [1]
Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Aromantic, Asexual Character, Coming Out, Crutchie has cp (Cerebral Palsy), Gen, Its not super explicit but like be safe, Javid is mentioned, Panic Attacks, idk how to do this sorry, that also isn't specifically stated but he uses a wheelchair, they swear like twice, uhhhhhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 08:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30018729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_things_we_do_today/pseuds/The_things_we_do_today
Summary: Charlie was freaking out. See, today was the day he was going to come out to his brother, the most influential figure in his life. For real this time. This wasn't going to be like those other times where he'd had it all planned out and almost done it but then chickened out and felt horrible for keeping secrets from Jack and then gone and cried in his room for two hours while listening to Les Mis and–He took a deep breath in. He could do this!~Crutchie is aroace and he's coming out to Jack. Panic attacks and flour wars ensue.
Relationships: Crutchie & Jack Kelly
Series: Larkin Family Fluff - Of Panic Attacks and Flour Wars universe [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208261
Kudos: 8





	Of Panic Attacks and Flour Wars

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all! This is my first work! I already have some more in the works, some in this universe, some not. As I mentioned in the tags, "Charlie" is Crutchie. Please let me know what you think, or if anything is unrealistic/offensive/needs to be changed!

**Of Panic Attacks and Flour Wars**

  
The Larkin brothers were inseparable - always had been. All the way back to the days when they were bouncing around in the system, knocked from house to house, only each other to rely on. It was like that for over three years 'til they found a permanent home with Miss Medda 7 years ago.  
Their family was small; just Medda, Charlie, and Jack, but it was everything they needed.   
Jack was 17 and applying to art schools across the country, while Charlie was 14 and on his way to becoming a professional baker. (Jack, of course, took advantage of this and constantly encouraged the boy to "do what he loves" in an attempt to satisfy his major sweet tooth.) Medda was the theater teacher and director at the local high school, and the best mother they could ask for.  
They were an open and supportive family, the kind that doesn't keep secrets. Well, save for one...

π

Charlie was freaking out. See, today was the day he was going to come out to his brother, the most influential figure in his life. For real this time. This wasn't going to be like those other times where he'd had it all planned out and almost done it but then chickened out and felt horrible for keeping secrets from Jack and then gone and cried in his room for two hours while listening to Les Mis and–  
He took a deep breath in. He could do this! It wouldn't be so hard, just four words! Easy as pie! Well, maybe not. Pie he could do. Coming out to Jack? Eh...  
He had known he was ace/aro for exactly 5 months, 2 weeks, and 3 days, and it was a miracle he hadn't let it slip to Jack yet - they told each other _everything_. (Except for The Slime Incident™. But they don't talk about that.) Jack's approval meant more to Charlie than he could possibly express. If Jack didn't accept him... He didn't know what he'd do. He was _everything_. He'd raised Charlie when their own parents wouldn't. He'd taught him to read, to tie his shoes, to watch out for strangers...that he could do anything he put his mind to. Without Jack, he wouldn't even exist because they were tied so deeply together that apart, they were just the empty shells every human starts as.   
Logically, he knew Jack would be supportive. The man was bisexual and had a boyfriend for goodness' sake! But logic didn't usually win out in these situations... _Goshdarn anxiety_...  
Charlie shook himself out of the negative spiral and headed towards Jack's room.   
He could do this! Probably...

π

Jack looked up from his math homework (whoever invented this _trigonometry_ monstrosity deserved to burn in the pits of Hell...) as Charlie hesitantly wheeled himself into the room.   
"Hey, kiddo, what's up?" Jack greeted, looking up from his Evil Math From Hell™. His smile morphed into a look of concern when he saw his brother's face. "Everything okay?"  
"Yeah, I um...I wanted to talk to you about something? But, um, if you're busy it's not that important... "  
Lies. Jack could tell that whatever he wanted to talk about was serious. He rarely got this anxious around Jack. He wasn't even looking at him.   
Jack tried to be causal, pushing away from the desk in the wheel-y chair he'd _somehow_ convinced Medda he could be trusted with, and throwing out a simple, "Naw, I need a break from this sin/cos/tan shit anyways," but he knew his concerned dad face was probably showing through. "What's up, kiddo?"   
"I just wanted to tell you that I, um," Charlie mumbled. Jack waited patiently, letting him take his time finding the right words. After a few more seconds, Charlie managed to spit out, stumbling over his words, "That, um, I'masexualandaromantic," holding his breath and looking away afterwards.  
Jack blinked, trying to process the mess of a sentence. He was pretty sure he understood, but he wanted to make sure. "Sorry, uh, could you run that by me one more time?"   
Charlie stuttered out, "I- um, uh...yeah, um," but his words seemed to be speeding up instead of slowing down, and he couldn't meet Jack's eyes and _oh, shit_ his knee was bouncing and fingers were tapping uncontrollably and _fuck_ he was having a panic attack.   
Jack was up in an instant, moving to kneel carefully at Charlie's side, grabbing the bottle of Xanax and some water from off of his desk, as the boy started to panic more and more. "Hey, hey, hey," he soothed, "it's okay, Charlie. You're okay. Can you swallow this for me? Good, thank you. Now can you try to breathe? In, one...two...three...four...good. Hold, one...two...three...four... Out, one...two..." They continued like that, Jack (and the Xanax) helping Charlie calm down until his panic began to recede.  
"Hey," Jack said with a small, reassuring smile, "I love ya no matter what, kid. _So_ much. Gonna take a lot more 'n not wanting to get it on with no one to get rid 'a me," Jack bumped his shoulder lightly against Charlie's.   
The boy looked up at Jack, and upon seeing and hearing his brother's expression of the utmost love and sincerity, he couldn't hold back his emotions any longer.   
So, Jack rocked his baby brother gently as the boy sobbed into his chest and let everything out.   
"It's okay, I'm here. I ain't going nowhere."  
He held him and held him until the last hiccup subsided. Then he pressed a gentle kiss to the boys hair and stood up, stretching. "Hey...whaddya say we go make some cookies, huh?"   
Charlie managed a watery laugh and nodded. "Okay. But don't think I don't know you're just suggesting it because you want cookies!"   
Jack clutched dramatically at his chest. "How could you say such a thing? You wound me!"   
The boys set off for the kitchen together laughing, the promise of a flour war - and a forever 's worth of moments like it - on the horizon. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~
> 
> I am taking requests, but forewarning, I'm kinda picky. I'll tell you whether or not I'm interested in writing your request, but please don't fight me if I'm not. To save some time, here are a few things I will not write:  
> 1\. background character (we're talking like Finch and Specs and stuff. Race and Spot are fine. If you're not sure, please ask!) centric things. I don't know them well enough.  
> 2\. Anything involving Sarah. (Please don't attack me)  
> 3\. Anything NSFW. I'm ace. I don't do that stuff.  
> 4\. Nothing too dark or sad. Angsty stuff is fine as long as there's a happy ending.  
> 5\. Straight centric things. They get enough attention. (If it's minor or just mentioned, it's fine.)


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